News

A recent study in the journal Health Behavior and Policy Review, by Dr. Katherine Gardner Burt and Tisch Food Center team members, concludes that supporting teachers to connect gardens with core academic subjects is critical to help school gardens grow deep roots in schools.

A new study in the Journal of School Health, by Dr. Marissa Burgermaster and the Tisch Food Center team, provides further evidence that nutrition education needs to happen hand-in-hand with efforts to improve the food environments students encounter on a daily basis.

A study just out in the Journal of School Health, by Dr. Kathleen Porter and Tisch Food Center team members, sheds light on why and how New York City schools make external nutrition education programs part of their school’s every day culture.

This year in celebration of International Food Day, Teachers College Program in Nutrition Dietetic Interns decided to highlight the issue of food waste (and have fun in the process) with their Waste not, Wine not event.

Dr. Isobel Contento and Program in Nutrition Doctoral student Cristina Alvarez presented preliminary data at the International Union of Nutrition Science's (IUNS) 21st International Congress of Nutrition (ICN) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, October 15-17.

Over the past year, the Tisch Food Center convened a coalition of SNAP-Ed grantees in New York City in order to increase advocacy and visibility of nutrition education in the city. Monthly meetings allow implementers to explore opportunities for collaboration as well as the exchange of ideas.

This fall, the Tisch Food Center joined a new coalition, New York Food for New York Kids, committed to increasing healthy, locally grown food and related nutrition education in public schools across the State.

This fall, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will merge the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) into the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). Until now, a politically appointed CNPP executive director reported directly to the Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services. CNPP will now be part of FNS and will be lead by a career staff member.

While the House Committee on Agriculture and Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry work on their respective first drafts of the 2018/2019 farm bill, the Tisch Food Center is actively promoting priorities to ensure Americans have access to high quality nutrition education. This fall, the staff:

On Monday, October 9, the Tisch Food Center attended a House Committee on Agriculture Farm Bill Listening Session in Cobleskill, NY.

You can find a PDF‌ of our submitted testimony here. Please feel free to modify and pass along your own support to the House Committee on Agriculture at: houseaglistens@mail.house.gov, or by contacting your own Representative.

The Tisch Food Center is partnering with Summer Principals Academy (SPA) to teach future school leaders how supporting healthy school meals and food and nutrition education can contribute to greater equity.

July 20-24, faculty, staff, and students with the Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education and Policy attended the 50th Annual Conference for the Society of Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB) in Washington D.C.

TFC Assistant Executive Director Claire Uno and former Tisch Policy Scholar Ali Hard are hosting an SNEB Webinar, "The Time is Right for Strong Advocacy on Capitol Hill: Lessons and Insights from Policy Insiders." Other presenters include Jennifer Folliard and Tracy Fox.

A recent study in Appetite by Dr. Isobel Contento and the Tisch Food Center team investigates how students' beliefs and practices are linked to what they choose to eat. This research can make nutrition education more effective at moving students towards healthy habits.

According to a recent study by Tisch Food Center researcher, Kate Gardener Burt, school gardens have a 150 year history stemming from the coining of the term kindergarten, German for “children’s garden.”

"Does nutrition education have a branding problem? Do people outside the field too often think of it as giving information about nutrients?" These questions formed the basis of the Dialogue Now session the Tisch Food Center hosted at the 2016 SNEB conference.

The Spring 2016 issue of TheGrapevine Newsletter has been published! Check it out at theTeachers College Program in Nutrition website. The Grapevine is a quarterly newsletter written by students in the Teachers College Program in Nutrition.

Tisch Food Center researchers recently published 2 papers, one in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior and one in the May issue of Childhood Obesity. Both studies examine the attitudes, behaviors, and motivations that kids and teens may have around food.

Curious about ethical eating as a solution to climate change? Our Tisch scholar, Ali Hard, will be on a panel with experts from Center for a Livable Future and Bard Center for Environmental Policy at the Church Center for the United Nations - CCUN on Thursday, May 19!

On Wednesday, April 20, Tisch Food Center's Claire Uno will be a panelist on a discussion hosted by Food Policy and Obesity Prevention on the intersection of Public Health and Food Justice at the Mailman School of Public Health. Event is from 5:30-6:45pm.

Throughout the month of March, leading up the 6th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, Congressman Charles Rangel will be relaunching the Rangel Resolution, an initiative that encourages people to adopt a healthier lifestyle. The Tisch Food Center created two recipes that are affordable, accesible and easy to prepare -- Blueberry Ginger Superfood Smoothie Bowl and Savory Oatmeal with Baby Spinach and Black Beans.

SNEB is hosting an upcoming free webinar about nutrition education. This two-hour webinar aims to reduce global misunderstanding about what we call the work we do. It will consist of short presentations of different approaches to helping people eat better: Behaviour Change, Social Marketing, (Food and) Nutrition Education, and Health Promotion.

A new incentive being considered by the New York State Assembly would reward school districts for sourcing locally grown food in school lunches. The proposal, put forth by the New York School Nutrition Association, is a unique opportunity to support local agriculture and healthy school food at the same time. We see great opportunity for it to be paired with effective nutrition education. Read more in our Huffington Post op-ed here.

The Tisch Food Center, along with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity, are calling on Congress to increase funding for Team Nutrition in the FY17 Appropriations Bill. Read more about our case for strengthening nutrition education.

Just Food caught up with Joan Gussow to get the inside scoop as she puts the final touches on her Food Talk at the upcoming Just Food Conference, which will focus on the history of Just Food. Check out the interview here!

The NYC Alliance for Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) was out in full force on Capitol Hill with colleagues Claire Uno (Tisch Food Center), David DeVaughn (City Harvest), and Greg Silverman (Wellness in the Schools) working to #EndHungerNow.

The annual Just Food Conference will be held on March 13 at Teachers College. We are very excited about all of the sessions. The Tisch Food Center faculty and alumni will be involved in many of the day's events.

A new report by the Tisch Food Center's Renata Peralta highlights principal support for New York City's universal free lunch program for middle schoolers. This report comes at a time when advocates are pressing the Mayor and City Council to expand this program to elementary and high schools.

The Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education & Policy, Teachers College, Columbia University currently has two internship openings for summer 2016. Internships could also be completed in spring 2016 depending on candidates’ availability. Timing for these internships is flexible, but we are ideally looking for candidates to be in our office in NYC 30-40 hours per week for 8-10 weeks. The internships are unpaid.

The Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education, and Policy (the Tisch Food Center), Teachers College, Columbia University, are pleased that many of our recommendations have been included in the Senate Agriculture Committee’s proposed bill that lays the groundwork for strengthening nutrition education in federal child nutrition programs.

Creature 101 is an online video game for middle school students, which motivates youth to eat healthy and be active through integrating the best entertainment strategies with the best behavior change strategies.

The Tisch Food Center is presenting "Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk: Understanding and Engaging Teachers in Nutrition Education" at this year's Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior Conference held on July 25-28th in Pittsburgh, PA.

Nutrition education and the impact the food system has on our population's health are global topics of interest. Executive Director Pam Koch and Faculty Director Isobel Contento will travel to Japan, Malaysia, and Scotland to present the Tisch Food Center's research.

The Tisch Food Center is launching partnerships with NYC’s Wellness in the Schools (WITS) and the national service organization FoodCorps to evaluate the impact of their work creating school environments that help kids be healthy and ready to learn.

The report explores the landscape of nutrition education programs in schools in three New York City boroughs, details what is going well, and makes recommendations for improvements. A guide to nutrition education programs available to NYC schools is included.